Pictured at Fáilte Ireland's Golf Forum were (l. to r.): Dan Flinter, Chairman, Golf Forum; Tony Lenehan, Head of Golf Fáilte Ireland; Pat Finn, GUI and Denis Kane, Chairman, IGTOA
Fáilte Ireland today emphasised the great potential of golf for tourism as the Golf Forum released new research about overseas golf visitors to Ireland. This new research estimates that the typical overseas golf tourist is worth almost three times the value of the average tourist to Ireland and, with approximately 155,000 overseas visitors playing golf while in Ireland, this amounts to a total estimated spend of €204 million per annum. It is estimated that expenditure of this size supports approximately 7,300 jobs in Ireland.
The research was unveiled today at the Limerick Strand Hotel in Limerick during the annual briefing for the golf industry from the Fáilte Ireland Golf Forum, the industry based group established to help develop the sector. Speaking today, Mr Dan Flinter, Chair of the forum said –
“This new research further highlights the importance of golfing visitors to our tourism sector and the role they play in bringing in much needed international revenue into the Irish economy. Golf is widely regarded as one of Ireland’s greatest tourism assets and Fáilte Ireland together with Tourism Ireland and the industry are continuing to invest heavily in the promotion of our golf product in 2012."
“In order to build on the impressive performance reflected in today’s research, the Irish golf sector will not only have to continue to offer memorable experiences but one that is good value for money. Most encouragingly, this new research shows that we are hitting the mark on both scores – with visitor satisfaction rates at 94% and value for money at 85%.”
The research, which was carried out by Amárach, was conducted at golf clubs across the country during 2011 through face-to-face interviews with almost 750 overseas golfers. The findings show that Ireland is regarded to be a good value for money destination by the majority of overseas visitors – with 85% of golfing visitors rating it as “very good” or “fairly good” value for money.
Satisfaction with the Irish golfing experience is very high with 94% of golfing visitors claiming to be “very” or “fairly” satisfied with their golfing experience - North American visitors showed the highest level of “very satisfied”. Satisfaction can be attributed to the excellent courses, the beautiful scenery and the friendly/helpful people.
Key points from the research include –
- Golfing visitors are much more likely to be repeat visitors;
- Those who return to Ireland are also very likely to play golf again;
- On average overseas golfers are playing 4 rounds of golf on their stay in Ireland;
- For over three quarters of visitors who played golf while here, the opportunity to do so was very important in their decision to come to Ireland;
- Golfing visitors to Ireland are more likely to be travelling with friends (44%) or as a couple (33%);
- The average size of a golf party was four people, with North American and female golfers tending to travel in larger parties.
Further research into golf tourism in Ireland is planned by Fáilte Ireland and the Golf Forum during 2012 covering a longer survey period and a larger sample in order to gain more knowledge of the golf consumer trends.
As the national tourism authority, Fáilte Ireland continues to invest heavily in the development and promotion of the golf product. In 2012, Padraig Harrington will once again be Ireland’s face for golf tourism - continuing to be at the forefront of Irish golf promotion overseas and helping to promote Ireland’s golf brand, Time to Play.
Michelle McGreevy, Golf Officer with Fáilte Ireland, today pointed out that the recently developed new brand for Irish golf “Time to play” – which emphasises that golfing here is about a lot more than just the time spent on the golf course - had already carved out a distinctive appeal for the activity here as we compete for international visitors against strong competition from destinations such as Scotland and England.
Last year, Fáilte Ireland also launched a new online search facility to allow golfers to book their tee-time in real time. Golfers can now go to a ‘Search and Plan’ section at
www.discoverireland.ie/golf and choose from a large range of Irish courses to book their tee off time.
Furthermore, quality is improving in tandem with increasing value for money. Since the development of a national standards framework for golf clubs in Ireland in 2010, nearly 100 clubs have been accredited to date and are all working to ensure that visitor requirements are not just met but exceeded.
Ms McGreevy said –
“Irish golf is well poised to maximise any potential there is out there to play off our greatest assets – quality, value and people. We in Fáilte Ireland, in tandem with the Golf Forum, will be doing our utmost in 2012 to further grow visitors and revenue to benefit both the tourism industry and the Irish economy.”
Ms McGreevy outlined that the focus for golf moving forward would include:
- Generating awareness and consideration of Ireland as a world class golf destination through major events;
- Promoting and generating leads for the Irish trade through the Federated Search engine;
- Continuing to support and provide opportunities for the Irish trade to sell both domestically and overseas;
- Continuing to leverage Ireland’s golf ambassador and our world class golfers;
- Strong international marketing campaigns in the four key markets - of UK, US, Germany and the Nordics.
To download a full copy of the report, click
here
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Alex Connolly – Head of Communications
086 7966320/01 8847884
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